Overall Achievements of the Flight Demonstration of EGG: Re-entry Nano-Satellite with Gossamer Aeroshell and GPS/Iridium

Abstract

A nano-satellite called the re-entry satellite with a gossamer aeroshell and GPS/Iridium (EGG) was developed as part of the research and development of a re-entry system featuring a deployable membrane aeroshell. The EGG has a size of 3U (11 cm × 11 cm × 34 cm, 4 kg) including the packed membrane aeroshell. This membrane aeroshell consists of an inflatable ring and a membrane flare and can be deployed using a gas injection system installed in the EGG’s main body. The diameter of the deployed aeroshell is 80 cm. The EGG was deployed from the ISS by the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD) in January 2017. The aeroshell deployment sequence was successfully executed in February 2017. Images of the deployed aeroshell were captured by onboard cameras. After the deployment of the aeroshell, the EGG gradually lost altitude owing to the aerodynamic force acting on the aeroshell. This trend of orbital decay was confirmed by the GPS data. All flight data right until re-entry were acquired via the Iridium satellite network. Therefore, the EGG became the first satellite to rely solely on the Iridium satellite network for telemetry and command.